Trail Review: Fair Hill’s Orange Trail

This weekend’s adventures took me on another solo hike. Unfortunately Seningen is out for surgery recovery and Nick is insistent upon “working” and “paying bills” even on prime hiking days. I decided that I would go back to Fair Hill Natural Resource Area to try another trail and perhaps redeem myself for getting lost the last time. This time, I parked at the 273 Trail Head and immediately began to question if I was in the right place. According to the map, the trail began right at the parking lot. As it turns out it does, but it requires you to walk a little ways into a field to find the beginning of the trail. Took me about 5 minutes to find it. A trail marker would have been great here.

Once on the trail, it was more clearly marked… except on roads which I will get to later. The Orange Trail is listed on the trail map as a “difficult” trail based on the elevation changes and rocky parts of the trail. I can confirm that it is more challenging than the others I have walked so far at Fair Hill, but it is worth the extra work. The trail takes you past some great views and landmarks as well as through a nature trail.

It was hard to believe that less than a week ago Seningen and I had been hiking in the snow. This day was very much like a spring day and the wildlife seemed to be out and about too. Here I found some Racoon tracks, I also saw a rabbit and a White Tail Deer along the trail. I was not fast enough to get pictures of either of those things, once again making me question my ability to hunt if I couldn’t even get a picture. That aside, if it was this lively in the middle of winter, I imagine it has a lot more to offer in the spring and summer.

In addition to the wildlife, the Orange Trail does an excellent job showcasing some of the natural and man-made landmarks in Fair Hill. The Hike takes you through the western side of the park. It meanders through hills and fields, in and out of forests, and eventually parallels the Big Elk Creek. The trail takes you past Fair Hill Nature Center and the famous Red Covered Bridge at its midpoint, before circling back through the forest and hills back to the parking lot. As with a lot of Fair Hill’s trails you will likely be sharing it with horses and bikers at different points, especially where it joins up with roads.

Overall, it is a beautiful hike. While it makes you work for a lot of it, the Orange Trail does let that work go unrewarded. There is a lot it has to offer and I found myself constantly impressed with the views, the landscape, and the landmarks as I hiked.

Now that I have sung its praises, I feel as though I can talk about some of the frustrating parts. As you can see there are a couple of places along this 5 mile trail that could be more clearly marked. Trail markers seem to disappear anytime there is a connection with a road. So in those places where you are walking a long a road, you have to carefully figure out exactly where the trail diverts, or like me, you will end up walking an extra mile. This could be remedied by a trail marker with the orange blaze exactly where it diverges, but where would the fun be in that?